Available online 10 April 2015
The bushmeat and food security nexus: A global account of the contributions, conundrums and ethical collisions
Highlights
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- Bushmeat is a vital protein source for millions of people in developing countries.
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- Extensive bushmeat harvesting is leading to declines in many wildlife populations.
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- Bushmeat's contributions to food security, livelihoods and health are discussed.
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- The impacts of overexploitation on wildlife and human health are emphasised.
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- Sustainable solutions will need to reconcile the needs of the animals and people.
Abstract
Wild
meat or ‘bushmeat’ has long served as a principal source of protein and
a key contributor to the food security of millions of people across the
developing world, most notably in Africa, Latin America and Asia. More
recently, however, growing human populations, technological elaborations
and the emergence of a booming commercial bushmeat trade have
culminated in unprecedented harvest rates and the consequent decline of
numerous wildlife populations. Most research efforts aimed at tackling
this problem to date have been rooted in the biological disciplines,
focused on quantifying the trade and measuring its level of destruction
on wildlife and ecosystems. Comparatively little effort, on the other
hand, has been expended on illuminating the role of bushmeat in human
livelihoods and in providing alternative sources of food and income, as
well as the infrastructure to make these feasible. This paper aims to
shift the focus to the human dimension, emphasising the true
contributions of bushmeat to food security, nutrition and well-being,
while balancing this perspective by considering the far-reaching impacts
of overexploitation. What emerges from this synthesis is that bushmeat
management will ultimately depend on understanding and working with
people, with any approaches focused too narrowly on biodiversity
preservation running the risk of failure in the long term. If wildlife
is to survive and be utilised in the future, there is undoubtedly a need
to relax adherence to unswerving biocentric or anthropocentric
convictions, to appreciate the necessity for certain trade-offs and to
develop integrated and flexible approaches that reconcile the
requirements of both the animals and the people.
Keywords
- Bushmeat;
- Food security;
- Human livelihoods;
- Nutrition;
- Sustainability;
- Wild meat
- Corresponding author. Tel.:
+ 27 21 808 4916; fax: + 27 21 808 4750.
- 1
- South African Research Chair in Meat Science hosted by the University of Stellenbosch in partnership with the University of Fort Hare, funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and administered by the National Research Foundation (NRF).
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